Oscar Mayer Lower Sodium Turkey Bacon - Who says you can't have food that's lower in fat and sodium? People who are wrong, that's who! Our buddy Oscar has cranked out some new turkey bacon with 25 percent less salt than the regular kind. That's FANTASTIC. Each slice has 35 calories, 3g fat, 135mg sodium, 0g carbs, 0g fiber, 0g sugars, and 2g protein (PointsPlus® value 1*). Guess bologna's not the only thing Oscar's got up his sleeve! (Oh. Ew.)

Salad Days Are Here Again!

Look at all the summery, guilt-free salads popping up on menus everywhere!

Quiznos Fresh Farmers Market Salads - These salads make us happy, and not just because they're WAY lower in calories than those crazy Flatbread Chopped Salads that Quiznos used to offer. They look super-tasty -- Caprese Chicken, Harvest Chicken, Mediterranean Chicken, and more. Without dressing, the full-sized salads top out at 260 calories. Pssst... Go for the Fat-Free Balsamic Vinaigrette!

Au Bon Pain Create-Your-Own-Salad Stations - You down with ABP? The chain is revamping its restaurants, adding healthy beverage options (like green tea and coconut water) in addition to the new salad stations. This sounds GREAT... but what's the difference between a create-your-own-salad station and a good old-fashioned salad bar?

Noodles & Company Summertime Salads - Despite being named after carby food, this chain isn't off-limits. The latest menu items -- Backyard Barbecue Chicken Salad and Very Berry Spinach Salad -- sound delicious, and a few tweaks will save you a TON of fat and calories. Order 'em without dressing/vinaigrette, and skip the croutons on the berry salad -- then each full-sized salad will have less than 400 calories. Thanks to the saucy BBQ chicken and the spinach salad's figgy glaze, we doubt you'll miss the dressing!

Summer starts TOMORROW, people! Before you fire up the grill, get familiar with this need-to-know info. The USDA recently updated its recommendations for safely cooking whole cuts of meat like beef and pork -- they should be cooked until the center reaches 145 degrees, followed by a rest time of 3 minutes before cutting. For poultry, cook to 165 degrees at the thickest part. So have a meat thermometer handy. (Check out this cute, color-coded set we found!) By the way, we recommend lean cuts like tenderloin and sirloin for beef and pork; in terms of chicken and turkey, go for skinless breast meat. When it comes to marinating meat or poultry, always marinate in the fridge (not outside by the grill), and bring leftover sauces to a boil before consuming them. Our marinades of choice? BBQ sauce with 45 calories or less per 2-tbsp. serving (click for our picks!) and fat-free plain yogurt (as used in this recipe for Chicken D'lish Kebabs!). For more tips on guilt-free summer survival from HG, click here!

The Buzz...

Congratulations, Weight Watchers! U.S. News & World Report recently ranked the best diets, and our buddies at WW landed the number one spot in the Best Weight-Loss Diets category. Nicely done! ***We're all about foods with hidden talents, and making a person live longer is DEFINITELY a good trick! In a five-year study of more than 135,000 adults, researchers found that those who ate lots of veggies in the mustard family -- like broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage -- were less likely to, um, die during the study period. Although, people who regularly gnaw on broccoli stems and cabbage leaves probably have healthier habits in general. Just sayin'! ***If you haven't heard, Kashi recently recalled thousands of cases of select varieties of its frozen pizzas, due to possible plastic fragments in the crust. Eeeks. Click for details and check your freezer. ***Want to consume less salt? New research suggests that savory scents could help. Scientists found that extra aroma helped to mask the taste of salt substitutes, a flavor many people find off-putting. Neat! ***Chocolate without any sugar or artificial sweetener? Yup! The latest from chocolate manufacturer Barry Callebaut isdark chocolate sweetened with stevia and other sugarless natural sweeteners. Look out, world -- stevia is taking over! And that's all we've got. HG out!

They're #1! They're #1!

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CHEW ON THIS:

It's June 20th, also known as National Vanilla Milkshake Day. If you forgot about Father's Day yesterday, maybe you should blend up a Chilla in Vanilla Milkshake for Dad today...

We may have received free samples of food, which in no way influences whether these products are reviewed favorably, unfavorably, mentioned with indifference, or mentioned at all. Click for more about our editorial and advertising policies.

*The PointsPlus® values for these products and/or recipes were calculated by Hungry Girl and are not an endorsement or approval of the product, recipe or its manufacturer or developer by Weight Watchers International, Inc., the owner of the PointsPlus® registered trademark.